Heney a



UNITED STATES PAEN OFFICE.

HENRY A. HOUSE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 29,696, dated August 21, 1860.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. HOUSE, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Gate; and I do hereby de- Clare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying' drawing, :torming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a front elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same, the line a0, a2, Fig. l, indicating the plane of section.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

This invention consists in arranging a knee or toggle joint and two pendulum levers in'combination with two hand levers in such relation to the gate or gates, which are suspended from said pendulum levers that by depressing either one or the other of said hand levers the pendulum levers are forced apart by the action of the toggle joint, and the gates are opened and kept open until the toggle joint is brought within a horizontal line drawn through its center; and this invention consists also in combining with said toggle joint and hand levers two hinged weighted dogs which retain the gates when closed, and which are released by the levers before they act on the toggle joint, thus allowing the gates to open without obstruction when the levers are pulled, but preventing them opening spontaneously or by the force of the wind or from any other cause. y

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation with reference to the drawing.

The gates A, A, are suspended from pendulum levers B, B', which are fulcrated in pivots a, in the cross-pieces b,which form the top of the frame C. In order to cause the gates to swing back parallel they may be either provided with an additional support c, consisting of a rope or chain suspended from the outside of the frame C, and connected to the outer edge of the gate A, or they may be furnished with curved guides c', sliding on pins c, in the lower part of the frame C. Such a guide is attached to the gate A', and either of these devices serves to keep the gate in an upright position as it swings back so that it clears snow or other obstructions which may have accumulated outside the frame C, and that it is always in the proper position to close down readily.

The pendulum levers B, B', are connected by pivots d, d', to toggle arms D, D', which are united by their fulcrum pin e. By depressing the center of this toggle joint the pendulum levers are forced apart and the gates swing open, as shown in red outlines in Fig. l. Hand levers E, E', serve to de# press the toggle joint and to open the gates, and these levers extend far enough from the gate to enable the driver of a vehicle or a rider on horseback to open the gate conveniently as he approaches the same. Said levers turn on pivots f, f, in pendants g, g', which extend from either side of the frame C, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and they are connected by a cord or wire in such a manner that if one ofthe levers is depressed the other is raised, and vice versa.

Vhen the gates are open the toggle arms assume a position a little below a horizontal line, so that the gates are kept open until the fulcrum e, of the toggle arms is raised above the line drawn through the pivots d, cZ, which connect them to the pendulum levers. This is effected by giving a slight jerk to that one of the levers E, E, which was raised in opening the gate, and the gates are now allowed to close by their own gravity.

lhen the gate is closed the toggle arms are kept in their places by means of dogs F, F, which are secured to said arms by means of pivots h. Their outer ends are loaded with weights z, z, and they catch over small cross bars in the upper part of the frame. In order to be able to depress the toggle arms it is necessary to rst raise these dogs so as to disengage them from the cross bars j, j. This is effected by levers E, E, which rest on the inner curved ends of the dogs, the weights z', z, being sufficiently heavy to counteract the weight of the levers, so that by depressing one or the other of said levers the dogs are first disengaged before the lever acts on the toggle arms. These dogs are intended to keep the gate closed and to prevent its being opened spontaneously.

This gate can be built with little expense and its operation is simple and easily understood, and it will work with equal facility in stormy as in fair weather.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by D, D and hand levers E, Ef, of the Weight- Letters Patent sed hinged clogs F, F, arranged substantially 10 h1. The1 arrangelrpelllJ alld ollnbinat'm Epi as and for the purpose specified. t e to e arms an evers 5 pendulgugm levers B, B, and gates A, A', HENRY A' HOUSE' constructed and operating substantially in Witnesses: the manner and for the purpose set forth. M. M. LIVINGSTON,

2. The combination with the toggle arms L. W. BENDRE. 

